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A week ago, I left the sun-filled shores of Dominica and returned to the wind-battered plains of Fargo. The wife and I took a trip with two of our close friends and spent 10 days on the island with two days of travel on either end. It was a wonderful trip, and it was nice to spend so many uninterrupted days away from the office and get some time to just relax for a change.

Of course, what would a vacation be without some drinking? You might guess a Carribean island would have a heavy rum bias, and you’d be correct, though there is a not-so-small brewery tucked away on the south end of the island that churns out some decent beer.

The beer, sadly, is better than American pale lagers. I hiked several miles with a handful of bottles in 80° jungle weather, and when we stopped for lunch and washed down cold sandwiches with a bottle of warm (hot?) Kubuli, it was still pretty decent. Try that with your Bud Select.

I also had a chance to try their shandy, which is perhaps more representative of the style than anything I can find locally (I’m looking at you Leinenkugel), though not really to my liking.

Next time you’re in the Carribean, be sure to try a bottle. It’s good to take a tolerance break from the rum now and then anyhow.

I’m in Austin, Texas, this week for Railsconf. If you’re ever in downtown Austin, highly recomment you hit up the Gingerman. Lots of taps, even more bottles. I’ve really been enjoying all the local beer and things like Stone that we can’t get on draught in or anywhere near Fargo.

Wow, exciting news from Brooklyn Park: To help deal with the insane demand for Furious and the Simcoe shortage, Surly is rolling out a new IPA to be sold exclusively at Target Field this summer. From their Facebook page:

Today, Surly starts pouring beer at Target Field and we will have rotating varieties throughout the 2012 Minnesota Twins season. That will include Cynic, Bender, Coffee Bender, Bitter Brewer, and Hell. It will not include Furious, unfortunately. Because of shortages on specific hops and an already long waiting list for the beer, we couldn’t commit to getting Furious to Target Field this season. But, it’s a unique opportunity so we wanted to do a unique beer. That’s why we brewed a special beer for the 2012 season, which will be exclusive to Target Field.

Introducing Bandwagon, a West Coast India Pale Ale. This IPA is brewed with pale and crystal malts, centennial and chinook hops, and fermented with English ale yeast. Bandwagon is pale gold in color and has flavors of caramelly biscuits slathered in pineapple-orange marmalade.

Bandwagon. Jump on, Get Surly!

I hate to naysay, but for a company that usually has strong branding, I can’t help but be turned off by their choice of logo for this beer:

Nonetheless, I’m really excited to try this beer. Hopefully I can make it to a Twins game this summer!